Several months ago, we reported that Richard Heene, disgraced father of “Balloon Boy” Falcon Heene, is marketing a line of innovative backscratchers that lack the annoying portability of other such devices. Now, Radar Online is reporting that the elder Heene has enlisted Falcon to front the “Bear Scratch Band,” whose new single, “Bear Scratch Dance,” catchily encapsulates one of the other things bears do in the woods.

Richard Heene is a world-renowned inventor. Sure, he’s mostly renowned for inventing a little story about his son being horribly endangered but, hey, creativity is creativity. So that’s why we’re all super excited about his latest invention; the Bear Scratch, a plank of knotty wood covered in a hard gel coat and designed to give you a “full scratching!” Clearly it sounds awesome.

Since mid-October, you have probably been wondering: Balloon Boy’s parents Richard and Mayumi Heene, what ever happened to them? Are they rich and famous yet? Well, their sentencing is today, and they could wind up the exact opposite of rich and famous: fined $46,000, and in jail.

For most, his stunt to gain attention (and possibly a TV contract) which put his entire family through a great deal of stress was abominable and exploitative.ut this morning in the New York Times, columnist Frank Rich finds compassion for Heene, painting him in a landscape of deflated economic opportunity where the most dependable job opportunity is the round-the-clock media circus and all the real hoaxers go unpunished.

The story of “Balloon Boy” Falcon Heene has become the newest national joke, the “I’ma let you finish” du jour. While the story is absurd, the media seems to be ignoring the darkest chapter. Recently, Rachel Maddow and Countdown ran humorous segments about the boy’s live vomiting on NBC’s Today Show. They’re not the only ones to make light of this, but they are the straws that broke the camel’s back.

Bill O’Reilly‘s status as top cable news host probably helped him land one of the last exclusives left in the whole Balloon Boy saga – with Larimer County, CO Sheriff Jim Aldernen.

With Aldernen’s slow action in declaring this a criminal case, O’Reilly had some material to work with. And he channeled ‘the folks’ for his questions.

Business Insider announced Friday that they had “alleged proof” that the Balloon Boy story was a hoax after being contacted by a “Denver-area student who claims to have worked with Falcon’s father.” The student wanted to sell his story for $5-8000. Apparently Gawker jumped at the offer, because yesterday they published their own exclusive. So how much did Gawker pay for the exclusive?

Late yesterday, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden told reporters that he expects to file criminal charges in the case of 6 year-old “Balloon Boy” Falcon Heene’s non-ride on a runaway helium balloon. He also said that his office was trying to obtain search warrants, and expressed disappointment that they could only file class 3 misdemeanor charges.

The announcement came on the heels of “Balloon Boy” dad Richard Heene’s bizarre press conference, in which he insisted there was “Absolutely no hoax,” then provided reporters a box in which to place their questions.

Balloon Boy Updates Here: Sheriff confirms that the flight was a hoax this afternoon in press conference. Richard Heene, Balloon Dad, will be charged with at least a Class 3 misdemeanor, if not federal charges, according to an announcement by Larimer County Colorado Sheriff Jim Alderden last night.

Richard Heene, the father of the infamous Balloon Boy, called reporters to his house this morning for a press conference of sorts. The man who has had the media, and frankly everyone on the Internet atwitter, made it seem like a big announcement would be made outside his home this morning. Instead, he only told the assembled reporters “Absolutely no hoax” before asking them to put their questions in a box so he could answer them later.

As expected, Balloon Boy’s comment on CNN’s Larry King Live last night (“we did this for a show”) has caused a media frenzy – although not nearly as much of a frenzy as the whole Balloon incident that started this thing.

The parents of six-year-old Falcon Heene thought it would be a good idea to go on the full morning show circuit, but to prove just how good an idea it really was, Balloon Boy puked live on air during two interviews.